Part V - Family Affair

Posted on Thu Nov 21st, 2024 @ 10:46pm by Lieutenant JG Zai & Lieutenant Adrianna Baciami

1,358 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: Stars Around the Well
Location: Over Communications
Timeline: Just Before Entering Dead Zone

ON:

"You always make me nervous in the best way." He closed his eyes. "Is it horrible that I know I should leave but I want to kiss you?"

"Merde-- is it worse that I was hoping you'd say something like that?" She asked, retracting her fingers and laying back down, but keeping her eyes on him.

"Oh yea, we're going to hell." He grinned and sighed. "So can I kiss you?"

"I am your future wife, amore mio."

Smiling he brought himself into her embrace his lips finding hers. The kiss started tentative but blossomed into a soul searing power that, had he been standing, would have brought him to his knees. Her hands in his hair and on his back were driving him wild. Both were so lost in one another that neither herd the activation of a screen just on the desk across the sofa.

Vance heard noting but the pounding of his heart until the sound of several throats being cleared brought his awareness back into the room.

What they didn't see was a very brady bunch like set up with several of Adri's brothers and her mother in the center starting at them.

Adrianna whined like a kicked puppy as he broke this kiss. There was a desperation in her eyes, but at the sound of clearing throats she quickly looked over and saw her mother with most of her brothers around. She yelped and shoved Vance off of her, fixing her shirt and hair, "Mamma! Maddona! Now?" She was blushing.

Tanina chuckled and said something sheepishly, which for the benefit of Vance, one of her brothers translated, "she says that she may have demanded grandchildren sooner rather than later, but she didn't want to witness you trying."

"Mamma! Marco! Shut up!" Adrianna was not only flushed but was now turning a deep shade of red in embarrassment.

It took a moment for Vance's lust fogged brain to comprehend how he was on the floor. He blinked his eyes coming back into focus and then looked at the screen. "Fuuddddge and crap." He stood up hands waving in front of him, his shirt forgotten. "This is not what it looks like. We were comparing tattoos and ...

One of her brothers said something before another commented back on standard, "Vance, we're all grown ups. We've all been there. My brother is right though-- man to man... Consider what you have just been doing and how it may... Raise more than your blood pressure."

Vance looked down just past his waist and cursed tight pants. His entire face and his whole chest went red. "Damn it! Not gonna happen again till the wedding. Promise." He turned and ran....into a wall with a powerful thud. "Crap." He ran for the door...and forgot to hit the open panel.

Another thud sounded. "Crap!" He spilled out into the hall shirt forgotten on the floor.

Adrianna watched him go, biting her lips, trying not to laugh. She looked back at the screen, "you have really shitty timing-- you know that. I will tell your wives, girlfriends and future wives and girlfriends what assholes you are!" She then switched to Italian so that her mother could understand, returning to a saner conversation.

The door hissed shut as Vance fled, his face a deep shade of crimson. Adrianna let out an exasperated sigh, slowly turning back to her screen. On the screen, her mother Tanina and four of her brothers– Marco, Eduardo, Luca, and Matteo– each sat in varying states of amused shock.

"Well," Marco said, breaking the silence with a low whistle. "Now I get why Giovanni invited him to the reunion. That’s the handsome rogue you’ve been mooning over?"

Adrianna groaned, sinking into her chair, "Can we not?"

Whilst talking she grabbed a PaDD and messaged Vance: appears I now have 2 of your shirts.

"Marco’s right, though," Eduardo teased, leaning closer to the screen. "That man looks like he just walked out of a romance novel. What’s the title? The Captain and the Starfleeting moments?"

“The Great Vansby?” Marco joined in.

“Perhaps more 50 Shades of Red?” Luca added.

“Breakfast at Stiffanies!” Eduardo mused.

“I want to say about the Great Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, but I know mamma knows that wording standard…” Matteo grinned.

And so it went on:
George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty Floor
Flawed of the Rings
Lord of the Rise
Doctor Not Sleep
Alice in Blunderland
Through the Nookie-glass
And so much more…

"Enough, all of you, stop," Tanina chided, though her lips twitched in amusement. "He’s a good man. And very in love with you, Adrianna. Anyway– the best would have been Vance and Vancibility or The Fault in our Bras..."

Adrianna’s cheeks burned. "Mamma…"

"What?" Tanina said innocently, sipping her espresso. "Either way, I saw it earlier when we spoke. The way he looked at you, the way he fidgeted every time I asked a question– he adores you."

"I would imagine that he also looked like he wanted to crawl into a black hole when Giovanni gave him permission to propose," Luca pointed out with a smirk.

Adrianna buried her face in her hands, "Oh, Dio, not this again."

Matteo laughed, "Come on, sorellina. You have to admit it’s funny. Our big, terrifying Giovanni all but gave his blessing to a man, he said was big and terrifying also, who looked like he was about to pass out just now."

“If Vance can survive meeting even some of the family, let alone the entire family at the reunion, he’s more than worthy of you, Adie." Tanina encouraged.

"And if he doesn’t survive?" Marco asked, raising an eyebrow, a mischievous glint in his eyes.

"Then just like what we saw in his trousers, we’ll raise a glass of grappa in his honour," Matteo quipped.

Adrianna shot him a glare, but Tanina had it handled with a quick clip around the back of Matteo’s head. Adrianna shook her head, rubbing the bridge of her nose, "You four are impossible. You’re going to scare him off."

Eduardo shrugged. "If he’s scared, he’s not the right guy for you. Simple."

"Enough," Tanina said, cutting through the teasing with a wave of her hand. Her voice softened. "Adrianna, amore mio, you’ve carried this love for so long. Now that you have him back, do you want to spend your life worrying about what others think? Or are you ready to live your life with him? You don't need our approval, nor does he. A love like yours is once in a lifetime and should be unapologetic."

Adrianna hesitated, her heart thundering. "I love him, Mamma. I always have. It's cazzones like these four that will have him running though."

"Language!" Tanina firmly chastised, "if he’s willing to fight for you– and I believe he is– he will not only survive the family reunion, but he will flourish."

Luca leaned back, folding his arms, "You know, if he’s half as brave as Giovanni says, he’ll be fine at the reunion. We might even like him."

"You’d better," Adrianna muttered, "Or I’ll make you all pay for it."

Marco grinned, "Ooh, I like this fiery side of you. Must be love."

“Please, remind him that I have eight boys– I've seen things before. I hold nothing against him in terms of our interruption,” Tanina shook her head, though her expression was fond, "Adrianna, amore, don’t waste time. Life is short. And remind him– he has my blessing already. I wouldn’t say that if I didn’t think he was worthy of you."

The brothers groaned in unison, though Adrianna laughed. For the first time in a long while, the future didn’t feel so uncertain.

As the call ended, Adrianna looked toward the door Vance had fled through, her smile softening. She grabbed her PaDD and messaged him again: “You have no idea what you’ve signed up for, Adams. But I think we’ll figure it out together. See you tomorrow. Sweet dreams x”

OFF:

 

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